When Christmas Isn't Christmas

This isn't the first time I've spent Christmas away from home. It's not even the second. This is in fact the fourth Christmas in my life spent in another country, away from my family and friends. It is, however, the first time that it has felt like a big deal.

In the past, the holidays coming and going while out on my own didn't really bother me that much. Perhaps it was because I still had some solid Christmas traditions (albeit not my own) to act as an anchor for my Christmas spirit. In 2002, while traveling around Europe with Tina and Adam, we spent the week of Christmas in Niort, France, with the Mamerts, Tina's former host family from the year of high school she studied abroad. Having a family with which to spend the holiday, as well as two of my best friends, while also experiencing the holiday traditions of a foreign culture, made the fact that I wasn't at home not only tolerable but exciting. Despite the language barrier and the need for Tina to translate everything Adam or I wanted to say to the family, and vice versa, it felt homey and cozy and, well, like Christmas. Just a different version of it. The three girls, Vanessa, Emilie, and Marion, included us in all their celebrations, and their parents, Alain and Francoise, treated us like their own children, which I came to fully appreciate after the oysters (yes, oysters) at Christmas dinner gave me horrendous food poisoning and I spent the 3 days immediately following in bed puking my guts out. Even still, in spite of the vomitorious conclusion of the holiday, it was great to have a break in our travels and spend the morning around a Christmas tree and eat a legit, crazy huge Christmas dinner, and even get some presents (Alain and Francoise gave us each a pair of our own house slippers). Christmas simply felt like French Christmas.

The Days You Want To Scream

For only the second time since I came to Korea, I yelled at some students in one of my classes yesterday. It probably wasn't the best move, since they are now guaranteed to ignore me even more when I am in their classroom, but I had just had enough of their total disrespect. A large part of my impatience stemmed from the fact that I have been so frustrated with this job lately, and just feel so over it. So it felt rather miraculous to stumble across another expat's blog entry this afternoon that perfectly and brilliantly summed up so many of the issues that come with working in a Korean public school. It actually helped remind me that these things happen to everyone and it's just the culture of work and education in this country. (If only I could use the cultural justification to excuse the terrible behavior of my students, but unfortunately I know that my school, when compared to other Korean high schools, is particularly and awfully unusual in this regard.)

I want to include the link to this girl's blog entry so that I can always remember that I am not alone in this sea of intercultural confusion/frustration, and so that anyone who is curious about what it is like to teach in Korea can have at least some vague point of reference. Here are "ten things you need to know to survive at a Korean public school."

Edit: Oh yeah, and one other thing this blogger fails to mention: if you are working at a public school in the wintertime, prepare to freeze. I don't think I will ever understand the need for half the doors and windows in school to be open when it is 10-20 degrees below freezing outside!!! I can see my breath in the hallways and the bathrooms and every teacher wanders the halls in full triple-layers, winter coats and scarves. I guess this could be categorized under # 9, about Common Sense meaning something completely different in Korea. My god it's cold!!!!

A Tale of Two Thanksgivings (aka Fast Metabolisms and One Hardcore Betch)

Well. That was a weekend, wasn't it?

I was looking forward to this weekend because it was going to be the first time that I'd had the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving while living outside the United States, and I was going to celebrate it not only once, but twice. Normally, when you're outside the US, Thanksgiving just kind of passes you by without much notice or fanfare. You go to work like any normal Thursday and Friday, there's no special turkey dinner, no talk about what you're thankful for, and even worse, no pumpkin pie. I've had a couple years without a Thanksgiving (2005 and 2006) and it's a bit deflating. But thanks to the huge US military presence in Korea, that was not a concern for me this year. In order to serve the troops on Yongsan base and others, some companies put together big Thanksgiving dinners-in-a-box which usually serve 10-12 people and cost about $100. I couldn't wait to chow down on two awesome dinners this year instead of just one.

Thoughts on the North Korean Situation

So obviously tensions between the ROK and DPRK have been escalating this year, starting with the Cheonan sinking in March and ramping up again yesterday after the North decided it'd be a bright idea to shell a military base and civilian homes on Yeonpyeong Island. Normally, these little "incidents" between the two Koreas seem to pass by with minimal fanfare; Koreans in Seoul and the surrounding areas, despite being less than 40 kilometers from the border, go about their lives and casually shrug it all off as being just a fact of life. But yesterday, I and at least a couple of friends noted that, for the first time we've seen, Koreans themselves appeared slightly nervous, which got me thinking about the situation in more depth.

Parties and Paintings

My social calendar was pretty booked up this weekend, which was exactly what I needed after what felt like the longest week I'd spent in Korea. Despite taking a sick day on Monday, going to a demo class at a nearby middle school on Tuesday, and sitting at my desk with no classes all day during the SATs on Thursday, I thought my head was going to explode by the time Friday evening rolled around. The second school let out, I got my crap together and headed to Seoul. I have two girl friends, Kasia and Rian, who had never been to Homo Hill and had made me promise to take them before they go home in December, so Friday night that's exactly what we did. I just spent four hours dancing all my stress out, which was perfect except for the raging headache I had to bear the brunt of the entire next day. Stupid cheap gin.

On Saturday, after an extremely late brunch with friends I hadn't seen in weeks, Amanda and I headed to the National Museum of Contemporary Art at Deoksugung Palace to scope out the Picasso and Chagall exhibition.  Picasso and Dali have been my two favorite artists since my time studying in Spain so I was excited to see more of Picasso's work and "get some culture," as it were. The only painting that was famous enough for me to recognize was Picasso's "Woman in a Green Hat." The museum also showed some of Picasso's earlier works, like "The Frugal Repast," which really brought me back to those days in Madrid and Barcelona, when I remember being shocked to learn that Picasso could actually draw in a realistic fashion.

Hiking and Halloween

This past Saturday, Jen and Tim and I decided to take advantage of one of the last nice crisp fall weekends by hiking to the top of Bukhansan, a mountain on the northern edge of Seoul. Unbeknownst to us, we were about to live through an experience like no other on this earth.

Hiking in Korea could reasonably be called an extreme contact sport.

Over the Border Line

I may have been living just a couple miles from the border between the two Koreas for the past 6 months, but it wasn't until last weekend when it actually hit me that HEY!! This border is a legitimately big deal!  Anne and I went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone with the USO on Saturday morning and it was fascinating to be so vividly reminded that we are all so very close to what is still, technically, an area of serious conflict.  Serious conflict and serious acronym action.

Around the World in 48 Hours

Lithuania, Hungary, Iceland, Cambodia, South Korea, Luxembourg, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Singapore, Canada, Maldives, Iran, Ukraine, North Korea, Lebanon, East Timor, Argentina, Vietnam, Slovenia, Uzbekistan, Uruguay, Italy, Mongolia, New Zealand, Angola, Russia, Cuba, Poland, South Africa, Norway, Paraguay, Moldova, Malta, Nigeria, Philippines, Algeria, Malaysia, Brunei, Australia, Peru, Myanmar, Laos... these are just some of the countries that I visited two weeks ago.

Communism: A KFC On Every Block

I think I'm going to officially stop calling China a "communist" country.  I'm pretty sure "authoritarian" is more accurate, since it gets across the attitude of the government without commenting on its economic policies.  Because let's face it, China is the new home of rampant capitalism and anyone who thinks differently just needs to spend a few hours there to see what's up.  True, it may not be pure capitalism, what with the smorgasbord of protectionist policies and government regulations, but China is nothing if not a profit-driven and increasingly consumer-driven society.  How else to explain a KFC on every block?

My trip to Shanghai last week during Korea's Chuseok holiday was somehow enlightening despite the fact that I've learned all these things before.  I learned so much about China during my semester in Hong Kong and particularly during my week-long spring break in Beijing, but that was over 6 years ago and it was almost as if I'd forgotten everything already.  I kept finding myself shocked by things that I've already experienced, which just made me feel silly.

Motivation

I have been having a difficult time getting motivated over the past month or so, for a number of reasons, mainly because I've been feeling down and thus distracted and in my own head.  Strangely, the thing that has started pulling me out of my funk is the overwhelming process of grad school research.  The more research I have been doing into getting a Masters degree in International Development, the more I've realized how much work I need to do and that my intent focus on studying in Australia was fairly myopic and not very well thought out.  It turns out that the decision that would make the most sense, in terms of time and money, would be to get my masters in England.  One year studying instead of two, no application fees, significantly cheaper tuition, and the option of converting a student visa into a work visa upon graduation.  I was so intent before on Australia that I wasn't researching schools elsewhere and this just made me remember how determined I was at the age of 17 to go back to southern California that I wouldn't even consider looking anywhere else for college.  And the result of that was Pepperdine, which, while not a decision I regret, certainly wasn't a school to which I was well-suited or an appropriate fit for my personality.  This time around, I need to think of every facet of this decision, especially fiscal responsibility, and it looks like the UK is it.

Summer Vacation, Part 2

Wow, I missed Hong Kong.  August saw my first trip back to the city since I left Hong Kong Baptist University over 6 years ago, and I'm so happy I returned, even just for a few days.  I forgot how much I love the city and with my friend Jonathan from San Francisco living there now, I even had a really nice place to stay with a great host.  I managed to not only visit my old neighborhood and see most of our old haunts, but I even did a few things I never got to do the first time around.

Hei Yin's photo of Tom, me, and Jono at the Peak

When I arrived on Thursday night, Jono and I went to the IFC to meet his friends Tom and He Yin for drinks.  Tom was visiting Jono from San Francisco and our visits overlapped by a couple days.  After getting to know each other, the four of us went to the top of Victoria Peak, which is the best lookout point from which to get a view of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon peninsula across the harbour.  Again, I'd forgotten how spectacular the HK skyline is at night, with the plethora of boats and skyscrapers and concentrated clusters of lights.  That just can't ever get old.  Later on we returned to Jonathan's incredible 47th-floor apartment in Sheung Wan and I realized that, while not quite as panoramic as Victoria Peak, that lucky bastard gets to see a similar view every day when he wakes up.  I made sure to take some photos in the morning from his balcony.

Summer Vacation, Part 1

I already miss it.

I've been back in school for 1 week.  Only one week, which has somehow managed to feel much slower and longer than the entire 2.5 weeks I had off for summer vacation.  I still can't believe how quickly it came and went, but as they say, time flies when you're having fun, and I definitely had a LOT of fun.  I'd love to say it was nothing but fun; unfortunately, that would be a lie.  Certain aspects of my vacation carried serious heft and weight, which is why I haven't written about it until now.  But I figured I should at least talk about the good stuff before too much time passes and my memories aren't as crisp.

Monday, August 2:  Matty arrived at Incheon International Airport in the evening and I went to pick him up there after shopping for some new clothes and getting myself a cute "Asian haircut."  (My hair guy, Min, always wants to try something new and different and since I usually don't experiment with my hair, at least not since I turned 21, I figured why not?)  I'm not sure I've ever been so happy to see someone.  We went straight to the Avis counter to pick up our Hyundai rental car.  It's hard to believe we actually spent the next week driving on the crazy roads in this country.

Playing in the Mud

So, once again, I write a post about 10 days too late, but whatevs.  Last weekend was my trip to Boryeong for Mudfest 2010. And what an unbelievably awesome and fun weekend it was.  I have never been so dirty in my life and I loved every second.

My Desk Is So Hot, It's On Fire

I have the urge to write something, even though I have absolutely nothing of any import to say.  I've had that weird sensation of creeping malaise that I get sometimes for most of this week, particularly today.  I hate when I feel so uncomfortable and listless and I can't place my finger on why.  It drives me crazy from the inside out, like I wanna crawl out of my skin or something.  I think a big part of it is just generalized anxiety about Matty's visit, piled on top of total utter boredom at work.  Today, for example, it is so ridiculous that I am even here at school.  There is no class or summer camp or really any reason for me to be here whatsoever.  But the Korean school system will be damned if it's not going to claw those 8 contracted hours out of me every single day, even if it reduces me to a prisoner in a desk chair.  I keep trying to tell myself that I was given fair warning, that I was told straight up front before taking this job that I was just going to have to deal with these deskwarming days.  But man do they make time crawl.

This weekend Anne and I are joining a group of ~450 people heading to Boryeong for Mudfest 2010.  We basically will spend 2 days getting muddy on a beach with thousands of other foreigners (and I guess probably a few Koreans).  I'm really not sure what to expect from this event, but at least it'll be an experience.  It's just too bad that there probably won't be much photographic evidence of it since no one will want to bring cell phones or cameras out to the mudflats just to be destroyed.  Then 2 weeks of summer camp, and then finally summer vacation.  I really just need Matty to be here already so I can stop stressing about it.  I'm also glad I found a cheap ticket to Hong Kong for the week after, since I've really been hoping to go back (I left over six years ago already!!) and at least I have a friend from SF I can stay with.  Too bad the heat and humidity will be disgusting, but hey, I'll be in HK!  I have the feeling my summer break is going to go by far, far too quickly, which only makes the current state of time that much more frustrating.  Hurry up and get here, August 2nd!!!

Life Lesson # 513,768

One thing I've noticed that this job has taught me in just 3 short months:  I am getting really good at adapting to sudden changes of plan with little or no notice, and more importantly, not getting angry about it.  In the past, I would get very worked up when I'd show up somewhere to find that a class had been cancelled or that a friend was going to be an hour late to meet me.  ....Didn't they know how rude it was to leave me hanging?  Didn't they think to tell me when the plans were changed?  What was wrong with them anyway?  I would certainly never do that to someone.

Well, not anymore!  If I still got angry every time my expectations or plans were suddenly flipped, I would spend every freaking day fuming out the ears and frothing at the mouth.  My co-teachers change things on me so unbelievably frequently that it's almost comical.  I seriously just have to chuckle to myself and walk back to my office shaking my head.  If I get nothing else out of this experience, at least I have been able to learn this one life lesson, that it is useless to get angry over other people's lack of consideration and a heck of a lot easier to just roll with it.  Thanks for the personal growth, Korea!  :-P

The Old Razzle Dazzle

Today I was reminded of that scene in "Chicago" when Billy Flynn sings "give em the old razzle dazzle," referring to the courtroom as a big three-ring circus that can be manipulated and fooled with the right amount of smoke, mirrors, and trickery.  That is totally the high school education system in Korea.  It is one giant dog-and-pony show that gives the illusion of learning but really produces anything but.

I am writing this blog post from a cafe in Bucheon, two and a half hours by bus from Haseong.  I had to come here today to attend an open demo class at Bucheon High School, minus my co-teacher, who is supposed to accompany me, but I'm ok with this considering he gave me his tacit approval to just take the whole day off (of course, the vice-principal doesn't know that).  Open demo classes are a requirement of the GEPIK program (GEPIK = Gyeonggi English Program In Korea, the educational department which brings English teachers like me to Gyeonggi province).  Every GEPIK teacher must attend and perform at least one demo class each year they teach in Korea.  Mr. Lee and I are performing our demo class in October, but he wants me to have a full lesson plan put together by the end of August, so I attended one today to get an idea of what to expect.  And what a total joke it was!

Six Months

It struck me today that it is officially July.  2010 is halfway over.  On the one hand, I believe this must be impossible.  New Years' Eve was just the other day!  On the other hand, I don't understand how 2010 isn't over already.  Where was I six months ago?

Well, I still lived in San Francisco for one thing.  I still worked for Best Buddies, expecting an imminent pay raise and promotion which never materialized.  The idea of coming to Korea was a nugget buried in the back of my mind to be realized at some much later, indeterminate date.  I had just moved into a new apartment and broken up with Matty, and I was incredibly incredibly depressed.  And, as a result, frequently not sober.  I had no idea what I was doing with my life nor any inkling of what the future had in store for me.

Now?  I have been in Korea for two and a half months already.  Best Buddies feels like a (thankfully) distant memory.  I've applied to a masters program that doesn't start for an entire year still, which means if I get accepted, I'll have the next 3 years of my life pretty much on lockdown.  I skype with Matty almost every other day and I am bursting with excitement for him to come visit in just one short month (!!!).  And I am very rarely not sober.  I feel like I've gained a lot of perspective in just my short time here and I think leaving Best Buddies and San Francisco (as much as I miss it) was the best thing I could have possibly done for myself.  I may get frustrated sometimes (I mean, just today I was cursing my 3-5 students and wishing I could smack the little animals in the face) but it's interesting, and nice, to see how much has changed in just six months.  It makes everything feel ok.  And for the first time in a long time, I'm excited for the years between now and 30.

My First Getaway

This weekend marked the first time I got out of Gyeonggi province and away from Seoul into another area of the country.  It was so awesome to break the typical routine and see a new part of Korea.  Even if it left me exhausted beyond anything I've felt in a loooong time.

Friday night, I booked it to to Seoul as soon as work let out, and got to Janghanpyeong just in time to meet Jen at her subway stop.  She was there to pick up her parents, who are visiting from Florida, and I managed to beat them by 5 minutes, so the timing was perfect.  The four of us and Jen's three roommates and one co-worker went out for a Korean BBQ dinner to celebrate Jen's 28th birthday, followed by a night at a local norebang.  I only had the opportunity to sing a few songs before I had to leave to catch my 11.30 bus to Seoraksan (or, in English, Mount Seorak... "san" means mountain in Korean).

Seoraksan is often touted as the most beautiful place in Korea and I was excited for a day of hiking there.  I had signed up with a group of people from Meetup.com who were all going together.  Little did any of us know what was in store for us.  First of all, I was under the incredibly mistaken impression that we were starting our hike at 5 AM.  WRONG!!!  After getting only about one hour of (terrible, fitful) sleep on the bus, we arrived at Seoraksan at 2.00.  Everyone piled off the bus to change into hiking gear and off we went at 2.30 IN THE MORNING.  Flashlights in hand, heading straight up a mountain in pitch dark.  And I mean straight up.  We didn't reach the summit of Seoraksan's highest peak, Daecheongbong (at 5,600 feet) until 8.30 AM, with the first three out of six hours spent climbing with only artificial light to guide us.

Korean Pride (Dae Han Min Guk!)

Reading all the World Cup and SF Pride-related messages on Facebook today, I realized that I never wrote about my experience in Seoul almost two weeks ago.  The memories won't be as fresh but I may as well write about it now!

So I headed down to Seoul on a Friday night, as per usual, and crashed at Jen's apartment.  The big deal that weekend (and it was a BIG DEAL) was Korea's first game in the World Cup, versus Greece.  It was taking place at 8 PM Korean time on Saturday night and, by all accounts, was set to be an experience not to be missed.  But a much much smaller deal, at least for the vast majority of Koreans, was the Seoul Pride 'festival' and 'parade,' also set for Saturday.  Two big reasons for me to head to Seoul, and two giant reminders of the differences between here and home.

So... Dog Meat

Tonight was my second hwe-shik, the evening when all the teachers from the high school go out together for dinner and drinks.  On the menu this go-round?  Boshintang.  Otherwise known as... dog soup.

I really didn't think this opportunity/dilemma would ever actually present itself to me, let alone in my first 2 months in Korea.  But there it was anyway.  I had to make a decision: to eat or not to eat?  It turns out that the current status of eating dog meat in Korea isn't so clear-cut at all.  If I understand correctly (which I may not), the sale of dog meat has technically been illegal in South Korea since 1984, but outside of Seoul the law is very weakly enforced.  It has long been a tradition in Korea that at the beginning of summer, when the weather starts to get hot, people partake in a meal of dog soup.  It's considered to be very healthy and the heat of the soup is meant to balance the impending heat of summer, basically helping you start off the season in good health.  Or so the cultural tradition goes.

What I Know For Sure

One of the things that sucks most about becoming an adult:  the only thing you know for sure is that you don't know anything for sure.  I have always been an obsesser over some vague nebulous time called "the future" (what future? 6 months from now? 1 year? 5? 10? 30?) and I drive myself crazy extrapolating and number-crunching and estimating and assuming and guessing and it's all just really a big waste of mental time and energy in the end because guess what?  WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!!  It's the curse and, I suppose, maybe, the blessing of being human, that we can't see the future.  So we need to try and live as fully in the present moment as possible or we just end up really unhappy.  I wish I could say that I'm better at this than I really am.  I am working on it.  I have a feeling I'll always be working on it.  Bleeeehhh.

One other thing I know for sure (Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself):  Teaching English is not a job I am meant to spend my life doing.  I know it's not good to wish life away by wanting it to go faster, but I cannot wait until the next 10 months are over with so I can do something different.  This is just not the job for me.  At least I know that much.

Breathing

We take for granted the value of fresh air and the importance of breathing until the lack of the former makes the latter so damn difficult.  I am developing the worst cough and having such a hard time breathing thanks to the absurdly damp and heavy air in my shithole of a house.  I would open the windows to let fresh air in if it weren't for the subsequent mosquito and insect invasion (yes, even with screens on the windows... apparently they're just for show). 

On top of the humidity and thick air that lingers in the house, I am beginning to suspect there is mold in the walls.  The Chinese teacher, who shares the house with me, has had a horrific cough for weeks now that won't go away and now I'm developing the same thing.  Upon returning to the house after going to Seoul for the weekend, I noticed a funky smell that permeated the house and I have definitely had some difficulties breathing properly when watching TV at night and when waking up in the morning.  Last night and this morning, I've been congested, sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, etc etc... I know that the school won't do anything about it, so I am not sure what to do.  I will talk to my co-teacher today, as well as the coordinator for the GEPIK program that hired me, to see what my options are.  The house definitely feels very unhealthy.  I did not sign up for this crap.

Silly Season

So. Election season. Or, as my friend Eric calls it, "silly season." And I thought that elections brought out the weirdness in the US.  Trust me when I say we got nothin' on Korea.

Imagine: trucks that patrol the streets all day long, the faces of Korean politicians plastered on the sides, sometimes making hilarious facial expressions or hand gestures, blaring campaign speak and crazy Korean music out of makeshift speakers.  Want more?  Add to this the spectacle of dancers on the trucks or robots that bend at the hip.  Not good enough?  How about a dude with a bullhorn on the corner dressed like Superman?  Still too lame for you?  Let's try bouncy cartoon characters that sing catchy little theme songs on a giant portable video screen over flashy images of the local mayoral candidate in the style of some music video from the Disney Channel or Nick Jr.

My Birthday Week

Well, I've had better.  And I've probably had worse.

The thing that sucked the most about my 27th birthday?  Having strep throat or tonsillitis or whatever the hell.  Being sick blows.  The thing that rocked the most about my 27th birthday?  Realizing that I have a lot of really great friends all around the world who love me despite sometimes not understanding why.  I know I shouldn't attribute too much to the Facebook birthday greeting since everyone under the sun gets inundated with messages on their birthday these days, but it still meant a lot to me to read so many things, some of them really genuinely nice, over my (2-day) birthday.  It also drove home to me how many friends I have scattered all over the globe, watching messages stagger in as May 26 began in totally different parts of the planet.  It gave me a warm happy feeling that helped make my illness infinitely more tolerable.  I felt really lucky this week.

Relationships in Korea

So I've alluded quite a bit to the odd state of affairs in Korea when it comes to romantic relationships.  Since today is a weird Monday where every class is getting canceled at the last minute and I'll only end up teaching once during last period, I figure now would be a good time to write some thoughts down.

Korea is definitely a country in transition, from traditional to modern.  At least 75% of my students, when surveyed recently about their family histories, said their parents were introduced through a matchmaker.  Today's youth, however, are increasingly meeting their significant others at university or through a job and the changes in relationship dynamics seem to cause a lot of friction between the older and younger generations.  A lot of the older relationships are more akin to business transactions than marrying for love.  The man and woman were put together because of their family or educational backgrounds; men are permitted endless numbers of affairs and the woman doesn't care so long as she has a nice apartment and gets to raise a family and spend the husband's money.  (Meanwhile, it is illegal for a married woman to commit adultery, which... don't even get me started.) 

How To Have Fun For (Almost) Free!

This weekend was my last weekend as an excessively poor man and I still managed to have a great time.  It's refreshing to have fun without spending much money and it gives me a good feeling about my ability to save the money I need this year.

As it stood at the end of the school day on Friday, I had less than 100,000 won left to my name, with my first payday looming closely on Monday's horizon.  On Friday night, Mr. Lee drove us into Seoul (only 45 minutes instead of 2.5 hours on public transit!) to meet and have dinner with Danny, my predecessor at the high school.  This was definitely the least fun part of my weekend, since Danny turned out to be a total jackass douchebag.  He  definitely came across as, in the words of my new friend Chris, a classic LBH ("Loser Back Home").  Korea is full of LBH.  They come to Korea because at home, they suck, and here, they are unfortunately considered significantly cooler.  So then they stay for ages because they know their lives are infinitely better here than they ever could be in a country where people refuse to tolerate their crap personalities. Anyway, Danny is a big old LBH, and I felt bad because Mr. Lee clearly hoped and thought that we would become best friends.  I was asleep in my uber-cheap hostel by 12.30.

Pointing Out The Flaws

So one of the most interesting character traits that seems to run through most of the Korean population is the tendency or willingness, nay, vigor with which Koreans like to flag up the flaws of others.  It is pretty startling the first time you have someone casually tell you to your face that you have bad skin or a fat head. And wow, does it happen a lot.  It's probably one of the things I hear foreigners comment on the most when discussing the things they like the least about living in Korea.  It's difficult for us to deal with because it just seems so rude.  What's hard for us to accept is that it simply isn't.  On the contrary to it being rude, it's actually seen as a sign of forthrightness and honesty.

A Tough Day

I really have some punk-ass students.  Today was the first day I co-taught the 1-4 class with Mrs. Jun and many students were bright and enthusiastic, but too many others were just awful.  I have never seen anything like the behavior here!!  One male student kept flipping off Mrs. Jun and just chanting, "Shut up, shut up, shut up," and she didn't really do anything at all.  It's like what you imagine teaching in Compton would be like after watching Dangerous Minds or something (except you don't have to worry about getting shot).  The level of disrespect is just mind-boggling.  I don't know how I will ever get used to it.  It's depressing to realize that there isn't a single day I can look forward to having NO "bad classes."  M-F respectively, I have 3, 1, 2, 2, and 3.  That is 11 out of 21 classes that are "bad."  And a lot of the "good" classes have some individual bad students.  It gives me a headache and a stomachache and makes me want to go home.

TGIF!!

Hilariously, people in Korea looove this expression.  At least 2 people say it to me every Friday.  They may not be able to speak any other English, but they sure as hell know TGIF!!

I'm sitting here trying and failing to put together new lesson materials (I can't figure out how to get youtube videos into PowerPoint) and just took some ibuprofen for my raging headache... but hey, THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!! And TGEM (even more) that next week I only work for 2 days (Mon/Tues) and then I have a five-day weekend. That sound you hear is the sky parting to a choir of angels. Tonight, as per usual, I am leaving for Seoul right after work and meeting up with some friends to go out, then tomorrow some other friends and I are going to Seoul Land (which is the Korean rip-off of Disneyland... no joke, 3 of the 5 themed areas are Adventure Land, Fantasy Land, and Tomorrow Land. I think Disney should be suing their asses). It might even be slightly warm tomorrow! In May!! Shocker!!!
Excuse my excessive sarcasm, I just think this weather is total and absolute BS, and I am ready for it to not be cold anymore. My managing teacher was asking me this morning what is wrong with me. "Why do you have a headache? Why are you so tired? What do you do at night? Are you hungover?" "No I get 8-10 hours of sleep every night. I have no idea what's wrong with me." "Ohhh, well this is not normal. Maybe you need to try harder." For some reason, Koreans love to point out your flaws or what's wrong with you and it's totally not rude here. The other day, I had a pimple. One pimple, on my cheek. I walk into my office and the first thing Kristen says to me is, "Oh no, you have a pimple!!! Ohh, I am so sorry!! This is too bad!!!" Well thanks a ton, Kristen, it's like I may as well be dying. Then a student in my 5th period class said, "Ohhh, teacher, you have bad complexion." Again, thanks for pointing that out. God forbid anyone has a bad case of acne in this country.
 
Excuse my ranting.  I am just thoroughly annoyed at the moment.  I need to get out of Haseong.  TGIF!!!

WHERE IS SPRING?????

Apparently this is one of the coldest and longest winters South Korea has ever had.  Spring normally arrives long before the date I got here, April 12th.  But not this year!!  Ever since I got to Korea, it has been freakin freezing.  Today, three days away from May, it is only about 40 degrees and windy and rainy.  Same thing yesterday.  I am ready to cut someone.  GIVE ME SPRING!!!

On a side note, today the foreign-language teaching department (8 people, including myself) went out to lunch after midterm exams.  The Koreans call this hwe-shik and it is quite a frequent occurrence within companies and organizations as kind of a bonding ritual.  At least once a month, an entire department or even the whole school faculty will go out to a restaurant for lunch or dinner and drinks.  There has not yet been an evening hwe-shik since I started working here, but apparently those are the ones that get really messy because all the teachers get super-drunk.  In Korea, it is very very rude to stop drinking before the head boss (or principal in the case of a school) so I have heard from other native English teachers that hwe-shiks at night are pretty crazy and funny, but also a bit much to deal with.  Anyway, at our hwe-shik today, we literally ate soup of fish eggs and fish guts.  It was good, even though the eggs and guts really did look disgusting.  I am really glad that I am not put off by gross-sounding or gross-looking food, because I would be missing out on some good stuff.  I remember being the only one of my friends to eat the haggis back in Scotland, and it was delicious.

Although right now, my stomach kinda hurts.  I hope I don't regret being adventurous today....

Stupid Americans

I felt that this deserved its own entry because it's hard to formulate my thoughts on this topic.  I don't know who I'm angrier with.  Allow me to explain.

Last week, I spent W-F at a 3-day orientation for public school teachers in my province (which I desperately needed).  Out of about 1,000 teachers, I'd say 75% were male, which was the first thing that jumped out at me.  Second thing was that over 50% were American, with the rest split between the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa (oh yeah, and like one dude from Ireland).  Now, I've traveled quite a bit, and one thing you can usually count on is that the vast majority of foreigners you meet while traveling tend to be friendly, tolerant, open-minded people who are interested in the culture they are visiting.  If you aren't of this mindset, you probably aren't traveling in the first place.  Not so in Korea!!  I guess it's a combination of the high demand for teachers and the relatively high salary that they pay native English speakers to teach, but there was a significant number of straight-up douchebags at this orientation.  As well as a few utter weirdos and crazies (there was one lady who I swear would be one of the crazy babblers living on the streets if she were back in SF).  I just kept asking myself, why are these people even here?  Why live in another country if all you want to do is complain, get wasted, and try to bang Korean girls?  Are you freaking kidding me??

Seoul Impressions

So I've spent the last two weekends in Seoul and I realized I've barely said anything about it.  I suppose since I will very likely be there at least every other weekend, if not every weekend, I should record my thoughts on the place.

First of all, I don't know why I thought that Seoul would be compact like NYC or SF, but it is definitely not.  Imagine if LA were filled with high-rise apartment buildings instead of one- or two-story family homes and you have Seoul.  Hugely expansive, spread out, crazy traffic.  Except Seoul actually has a useful, functional, wonderful subway system which just goes to prove (I'm looking at you, LA) that even gigantic cities can be easy to get around.  The actual city has 10 million (!!) people while the metropolitan area, including suburbs, is 25 million, which is literally half the population of the entire country.  Many parts of the city are really ugly, but other neighborhoods are really really cool and fun to wander and get lost in.  One thing that I can't stop noticing is how ridiculously long the traffic lights are here.  I will never complain about a "long" red light in the US again.  I've waited at crosswalks for up to 5 minutes.  It's annoying.

Culture Shock Has Landed

So this weekend I finally made it out of Haseong and headed down to Seoul both Friday and Saturday night.  As soon as school let out on Friday, I hopped on bus # 2 for the hour-long trip to Songjeong, and then took the Seoul Metro system for another hour into Itaewon, the main 'foreigner area' of Seoul.  The subway was incredibly nice and easy to navigate, with actual clean functioning public restrooms in every station and full cell phone service on every train.  I appreciate the fact that subway systems are pretty much the same no matter where you go, which makes them a lot easier to figure out than local buses.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday I was shocked and appalled by the situation in front of me.  Today, I am feeling a whole lot different.

After one of our classes today, I asked Mr. Lee if he could give me a clearer idea of what my role is meant to be in the classroom.  My friend Jenna teaches at a public middle school in Osan and is basically the main teacher in charge of her English classes, creating all the lesson plans and materials, whereas I just seem to stand around.  I was just having a difficult time grasping what I'm meant to be doing with these students.  Mr. Lee did not really give me a straight answer but seemed to imply that he prefers to lead the class and that I am there in a support capacity, offering correct pronunciations and cultural insights.

Trying Really Hard...

Is it possible to be jaded after 3 days?

I suppose I shouldn't have had any expectations, because history has proven that they are usually defied.  But WOW.  Honestly, WOW.  This job is going to be really freaking difficult.  I was under the impression that most Korean high school students have at least a rudimentary grasp of English having studied it for several years now.  ERRRRR, wrong!!!  I have exactly one class that is considered "advanced" and the rest?  They literally don't.  Know.  Anything.

Jet Lag Is Catching Up To Me...

Yesterday was a really long day and I am definitely feeling it today.  After school let out, my co-worker Kristen and another teacher, Ushi, offered to help me get a cell phone so that I will not get horrifically lost this weekend when I go to meet up with my friend Jenna in Seoul.  None of us had any idea that apparently it is more difficult for a foreigner to get a cell phone in Korea than it is to get a freaking work visa.  After driving 25 minutes to downtown Gimpo, we made it to the Samsung store, where they informed us that foreigners are required to sign 2-year contracts in order to get a phone.  With nearly all work visas good for only 1 year, this is clearly a discriminatory practice designed so that no foreigners will use SK Telecom (the provider for Samsung phones).  Next, we headed over to the LG store in order to sign up with LG instead and everything was going smoothly at first, with the phone costing only 40,000 won (about $35) and a 1-year plan that costs only 12,000 won ($10) per month + 20 won (0.018 cents) per text message.  Seemed like a great deal, especially compared to the exorbitantly overpriced crap we have to deal with in the US.

Sur-Reality

Well then.

I can already tell this is going to be a ridiculous, bizarre, and awesome experience. I've been in Korea for less than 24 hours and jeez, talk about diving right in. I wonder when the culture shock is going to hit.